Machine Evens Sushi-Making Playing Field

It's where raw fish and robots meet up. More specifically, it's a cutting-edge, sushi-making machine. A company called Suzumo introduced a prototype at a food expo in Tokyo last week.

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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: It is true that a skilled chef has trained for a long time. However, with Suzumo sushi-making machines, everyone can make stable-quality sushi very easily.

MONTAGNE: There's no price yet for the 20-pound, countertop device. But it is reportedly about 10 times quicker than the most productive sushi chef out there. It has a robotic hand that grabs chunks of rice from a bucket, and forms them into sushi rolls – lots of them. It can churn out 3,600 rolls an hour. You can have that for a party. More than you might need at home, definitely, but maybe just the ticket for a busy downtown sushi counter.

And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.